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| Yes | 31% | 60 votes | Total: 194 votes | |
| No | 69% | 134 votes |
Yes
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Add to FavoritesI really wanted to vote NO on this question, because I firmly believe that reading is FUNDAMENTAL. Just like that old television public service announcement back in the 70s we used to see, reading is so important and really is elemental for a good education. But I am interpreting this question to mean that whether the child wants to read or not, by gum they are going to get taught. That is not only harmful, it's cruel.
A child needs to interpret the world around him or her first before accepting other points of view. That means playing and socializing with other kids and adapting to the physical world first and foremost. A piece of clay becomes such an important tool for a kid. Children respond to the physical world much easier than to the literary world. Once the child becomes more curious by seeing or watching certain events on television, for instance, then the wonderful world of reading becomes a new pathway of exploration for the curious child. They can have both the physical and the imaginary worlds in harmony together.
Like anything else, when the motivation is there to want to read, miracles can be accomplished. And a child will get motivated when they want and need to learn something more that they are interested in. Take animals for instance; almost all children are curious when it comes to dogs and cats or their own pets. Reading can fill that gap and satisfy the information the children require to learn more about the needs of their own pets. When they begin to want to read and learn more, then a whole new world opens for them. What does this word mean? What does a Veterinarian do? Are there such things as love between animals? These are just some of the questions a child might be curious about, and reading can help point them in the right direction.
So, when a child wants to learn and is motivated, reading then becomes a platform for their education. They all want to be on the computer, right? Well, if you can't read, it's awful tough to use the computer and understand what you're doing. That should be motivation enough, even if they want to play a video game. So curiosity is the key, motivation will just fall into place.
When I was a kid, I hated to be forced to do anything. I got a lot more accomplished when I was interested in the subject, and most children are that way. So as a parent, it's important to recognize when the time is right, and a trip to the local library then becomes a great adventure!
Learn more about this author, Anthony Megna.
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No
Having brought up two daughters who have very different reading styles, I would say that it is practically impossible to teach a child to read until the child is ready to learn.
My oldest daughter enjoyed having stories read to her, so much so that I would spend several hours a day reading to her. At the age of three, she started to read herself and by the age of four she could read quite fluently. She could read fluently from a newspaper at the age of six and was reading well before she started to attend school. This was an advantage as she was educated through the medium of the Welsh language, whereas we speak English at home. This meant that she learned to read in English before she learned to read in Welsh.
Her younger sister, born eight years later, did not show a similar interest in books. Although she enjoyed having a story, she also enjoyed art and craft activities and would usually choose to draw or make something. In order to develop an interest in reading, I used books with her in an entirely different way. Rather than reading stories, I tried to choose baby books with lots of photos and we would look at the books together and discuss the photos. In this way, as well as promoting speech and conversation, I managed to teach her colours, counting, weather, sizes, etc., but she had not learned to read by the time she started school (at three and a half years of age) and I was reluctant to push her as I think that pushing a child to do something they have not interest in makes the subject a chore and can be counterproductive. Before she learned to read, she astounded me one day by using a book for research. She had drawn a picture of a table with several items on it. One of the items was a coke bottle and she did not know how to write the word "coke". She went rushing to the book shelf and chose the book she needed, found a picture of a soft drinks bottle and wrote the word "Fanta" onto the Coke bottle in her picture. I was absolutely amazed at her resourcefulness at the age of three!
When it came time for her to learn to read, she did so at school and in the Welsh language. I had some concerns about this as I worried that her English spelling would suffer (Welsh is a phoenetic language), but found that as she learned to read in Welsh, she also started reading in English. As she was growing up, she read books in both languages, but was never what I would term an avid reader like her sister (who would read two books a day throughout her teens and still reads at least four books a week). The youngest preferred to read magazines - I thought that reading anything is better than not reading at all.
I need not have worried as she is now in her second year at University, studying English Literature!
I would say that the best way to encourage young children to read is to read stories to them, but also to make sure that you use books and look at them, discussing them and making sure that the child is having fun. Children become ready to learn to read at different ages and I'm sure that pushing them to start at a particular age can actually discourage them from enjoying books.
Learn more about this author, Debbie Todd.
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